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Contact Info
Home Town Fancy Creek Township, IL
Last Address Armed Forces Retirement Home (formerly the Naval Home) Gulfport MS. Died at Union County Hospital, Anna, IL.
Date of Passing Mar 01, 2006
Location of Interment Camp Butler National Cemetery (VA) - Springfield, Illinois
Chief NAP / Navy Aviation Pilot
Former World War II Enlisted Pilot, Last of a Few
Saturday, March 4, 2006
ANNA, IL -- Richard D. Beaver, 86, of Anna died Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at Union County Hospital.
He was born May 24, 1919, in Fancy Creek Township, IL, son of Otto and Louise Ritterbush Beaver.
Beaver served 20 years in the U.S. Navy. He then worked as an air traffic controller 10 years.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Retired Officers Association, Loyal Order of the Moose, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Silver Eagles Association, American Legion, life member of VFW, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Illinois, 32nd Degree member of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Ansar Temple of the Shrine, Capital City Shrine Club, Legion of Honor Unit and Hillbilly Unit.
Beaver was formerly of Gulfport, MS., and Springfield, IL.
Other Comments:
The Navy beckoned, and Dick Beaver took the oath of enlistment Sept. 11, 1938. He became a Machinist's Mate, but he really wanted to fly combat aircraft as a Navy pilot. Graduating from boot camp in San Diego in December 1938, Beaver went aboard the destroyer USS Perkins (DD-377) and worked his way from the deck force to the engine room and made Fireman First Class in three years - before World War II. By August 1942 he'd made Machinist's Mate First Class and was selected for the Enlisted Pilot's Program. By November 1943 he was flying combat patrols in the Pacific.
His first assignment was with the PT (Patrol Torpedo Boat) 72 patrol squadron "the Knights of the Sea" operating out of Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, he flew the "Black Cat" PBY Catalinas, a squadron of black-painted aircraft that operated mainly at night against enemy shipping.
He participated in patrols prior to the invasion of the Central Pacific, the Gilberts, Marshalls and Enewetak islands, then he went through Tarawa, Kwajalein and the Marianas during the Marianas campaign.
At the end of WWII he was a Chief Petty Officer Aviation Pilot. In 1946 he was commissioned an Ensign and saw additional service during the Korean War. Beaver retired from the Navy in 1958 with the rank of Lieutenant (LT/ACC).
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/New Guinea Campaign (1943-44)
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1944
Description The last obstacle in liberating all of New Guinea island was the Vogelkop Peninsula in Dutch New Guinea. The Japanese resistance on the peninsula gathered at Manokwari, and MacArthur did not wish to contest with this force. Instead, his "hit 'em where they ain't" strategy took the Allied forces to a number of undefended beaches near Cape Opmaria and Sansapor. Like Rabaul, the 25,000 men at Manokwari were now stranded, frustratingly idling uselessly.
In Sep 1944, Allied troops occupied the Halmahera Islands, concluding the New Guinea Campaign. MacArthur was now only several hundred miles from the Philippines. In his memoir, MacArthur attributed to the Allied victory over New Guinea to mobility and the ability to achieve surprise at key confrontations. Additionally, he also insisted that his refusal to deploy military governors over conquered regions helped his command focus on the task at hand. Instead, he brought in Dutch and Australian civil administrators immediately after the area had been deemed secure. "The success of this method was reflected in the complete lack of friction between the various governments concerned", he noted.
Although Allied attention would move toward the Philippine Islands by this time, small pockets of Japanese resistance would continue to fight until late May 1945.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Beaver was at the Navy yard on Mare Island, Vallejo, Calif., near San Francisco.
"We got underway immediately and made two convoy trips from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor," Beaver noted. "We convoyed the first expeditionary troops to the Pacific out of San Francisco."
Beaver was aboard when the Perkins was engaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Sydney Harbor (Australia). The Perkins was involved in pivotal battles around Guadalcanal and New Guinea, and earned four battle stars during World War II. The only damage the Perkins received while Beaver was a crewman were hits by shrapnel.
Beaver said he was lucky because he'd gotten off the destroyer when a damaged propeller screw caused the ship to return to Pearl Harbor from the South Pacific in August 1942. While repairs were being made, Beaver used his liberty time to take civilian flying lessons. His application for Navy flight school was approved before the Perkins headed back to war.
"They wanted to make me a (chief petty officer) before I left the ship for flight school, but I refused it because I wanted to fly more," he said.
"I'd finished flight school earned my wings when she (Perkins) was sunk in November 1943," Beaver noted. "I was flying combat patrols then what I'd always wanted to do."
Ironically, the Perkins wasn't sunk by enemy fire; it went down after being accidentally rammed by the Australian transport HMAS Duntroon. The Duntroon's crew rescued most of the Perkins crew. Some reports say one Perkins crewman died, others reports say four perished.
His first assignment was with the PT (Patrol Torpedo Boat) 72 patrol squadron "the Knights of the Sea" operating out of Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, he flew the "Black Cat" PBY Catalinas, a squadron of black-painted aircraft that operated mainly at night against enemy shipping. 
